August 18th-19th City-wide Water Boil Advisory Information
Two Harbors’ surprise boil alert advisory was the central topic of August’s second meeting, with reassurance given by City Engineer Andy Brotzler that full sanitation precautions were taken by the crew handling the water main and that all test results tied to the event came up clean and clear. The city-wide advisory was only given to the public Monday evening and began late morning on Tuesday, leaving many residents unaware of the advisory until the last minute with little time to prepare, if they learned of the advisory beforehand at all. The advisory, which recommended boiling tap water before use to ensure it was sanitary and safe, lasted for over a day and caused businesses to close.
Brotzler’s appearance before the Council went over the incident in detail, starting with background on the work that caused the advisory: the Lighthouse Point Road Project. The project involved replacing part of the City’s water main, a 12-inch line running east-west along the alleyway just south of South Avenue. This procedure, which would involve cutting out the old piece and installing the new one, necessitated a planned water outage on Monday, August 17th. The outage was contained to the seven-block stretch just north of Lighthouse Point Road by closing several key valves and isolating the area being worked on by contractors. A standard notice on the outage was given to property owners in that affected area on Thursday, August 13th, the week before.
According to Brotzler, on Friday afternoon a representative from the Minnesota Department of Health contacted Two Harbors utilities staff with concerns about the size and scope of the outage, with staff members’ takeaway being that the City would need to provide a boil water advisory to those within the seven-block area affected by the water outage. After work had already begun on Monday, however, staff were again contacted by the Department of Health with updated information and requests. During an emergency meeting with the Department of Health that afternoon, they went through the contractor’s plans, detailing their method for keeping the pipe replacement sanitary. It is generally required that when a contractor performs new watermain work, they chlorinate the line, let it sit to disinfect, then must pass two bacteria tests taken 16 hours apart, with each test taking 18 hours to process, leading to an overall time of several days. “Those are all things that the contractor was prepared to do, did do, and completed in accordance with standards and specifications,” Brotzler explained.
He described the Department of Health’s stance at the time as a “belt and suspenders” approach, a term referring to a strategy of extreme caution by use of multiple overlapping strategies to reduce the chance of failure. Taken literally, the term implies that even if a person’s belt is too loose, their pants will not fall down because the suspenders will still work (or vice versa, even if the suspenders snap, the belt will keep their pants on). In this case, the Department of Health determined that in addition to the contractor’s isolation and sanitization methods, the city would also need to issue a citywide water boil advisory.
This advisory was made public Monday evening. Brotzler noted concern from residents about contamination in the watermain due to the advisory, stating, “I want to be clear, there was no knowledge or awareness of any contamination in the water line,” and that both bacteria tests came back negative for contaminants. Upon receiving the results of the second test on Wednesday, the water boil advisory was lifted.
In response to a question from Councilor Ben Redden, there is a possibility the water boil advisory could have been avoided if there had been a field assessment showing no risk of contamination, but “given the unfortunate timing of having to have this conversation at 1:00 on Monday as the contractor’s already six hours into doing this work it did not leave anybody a lot of flexibility to make that field assessment,” Brotzler commented, adding that the contractors and all others involved in the project had a goal of providing safe water and if there were any contamination concerns, resolving that concern would take utmost priority.
Councilor Donna Heil asked for confirmation that the contractor’s methods for the project were a normal, safe way for cities to replace water lines, to which Brotzler agreed. Water boil advisories are exceedingly rare, with a cursory search showing only around two dozen reported across the state in the past year. And usually, they are reserved for cases with “catastrophic failures.”
“And this was nowhere near any kind of case like that?” Heil asked.
“Not in our opinion,” answered Brotzler.
Heil had further concern about the advice given by the Department of Health, as its guidance to flush lines after the advisory ended “made no sense” if there was no bacterial contamination, and the confusing advice just made people feel even more unsafe regarding their water.
City Council President Uriah Hefter noted the Department of Health’s guidelines have been in effect for some time yet have not been an issue on this scale until now. All in attendance agreed that clarification would be necessary beforehand for future projects. Details on what will need to be changed long-term will require more conversation with the Department of Health and representative public organizations in the area, with Brotzler noting other projects in the area outside of Two Harbors may run into similar issues.
Mayor Lew Conner expressed his frustration, pointing out the event affected not only residents but businesses, commenting that “it just seems like this was an unnecessary decision.” Councilor Robin Glaser thanked crew and staff for their work dealing with the situation and pushed Brotzler to ensure it not be an issue during next year’s Highway 61 project. City Administrator Nordean confirmed she will talk with the Department of Health and explain how Two Harbors was adversely affected. In a typical year, she explained, Two Harbors has about 45 instances of water being disconnected. “We certainly don’t want the water shut off for three days 45 times a year,” she said.
Nordean also offered clarification on the advisory itself, which was offered with short notice the evening before the event: The Department of Health required the advisory to contain certain wording and language, which they would provide, but Nordean was not given that language until Monday evening. The advisory was put on the City website and on Facebook.
Following Brotzler’s Q&A, Two Harbors resident Keith Plum spoke to the council on the City’s notification system, pointing out that many likely missed the advisory altogether as it was done mainly over Facebook and many do not use Facebook (and in this reporter’s experience, if you are not logged into Facebook, accessing webpages within Facebook is an irritating process). Plum questioned “what percentage of households in Two Harbors were notified” during the emergency and what the City can do to increase that percentage in the event of a future true catastrophic situation. In response to Hefter’s question on possible alternatives, Plum gave an example of Chicago’s utility department using contact email and phone numbers kept for paying bills to reach residents during emergencies, with residents having the option to opt out if they so choose.
Water boil advisory aside, other topics discussed at the meeting were far calmer. Brotzler corrected a statement from the previous meeting by warning that 15th Street would be closed to through traffic during the County’s upcoming work on the curb, gutter, and concrete. On a more positive note, construction on 4th Street/County Road 2 has wrapped up and is once again open to traffic. The Odegard Trail project is still being planned, with staff in talks with the railroad, though even under ideal circumstances, construction would not begin until at least next spring. Finally, the Lighthouse Point Road project is on schedule with watermain and sanitary sewer work complete and everything going well, except for the water boil advisory matter. There are no expected delays, so the project is currently due to be completed in early October.
Committee Reports began with the Recreation Board, which agreed to contribute $10,000 to the Master Parks Plan. Utilities discussed the Water Boil Advisory and is considering whether to install EV charging stations at the liquor store parking lot. Edna G. is reviewing potential funding sources and dealing with a slow water leak, which needs to be pumped out but is currently manageable, plus taking steps in preparation for eventually moving the tugboat. Trees & Trails reviewed a relief grant with Duluth Dirt to plant 200 trees in spring 2027, plus helping some private residents with ash tree removal, and is considering temporary basic trail signage and a proposal for a memorial garden. Finally, Finance Committee Director Miranda Pietila explained the budget process for next year, and how at this time of year the administrative team meets with different city departments to go over their budgets for the current year and any changes for the next year.
Consent agenda items of note approved included the 2026 2nd quarter financials, which are overall healthy. Pietila covered the report in more detail: The City’s General Fund is on target, and Net Operating Loss is a bit higher at this time but should stabilize as the year progresses and money sources such as property taxes come in. The Library, airport, and golf funds are all doing well, utilities operating expenses are good, and the liquor store is doing slightly better than last year.
New business approved was an amendment to City Code Chapter 3, which covers utility rules and regulations, rates, charges, and collections; accepting a state funding award for the runway 6/254 drainage improvements; a followup to the recent special meeting concerning the City Band Shell, referring the potential demolition of the band shell to Public Works following a communication from City Building Official Jim Rich declaring the band shell condemned and recommending razing the structure.
Also approved was a contract between the City of Two Harbors and the University of Minnesota for work on “interpretive engagement and discovery” for the future Agate Bay Waterfront Park; an amended cost for the Water Tower Project with an additional $458.50 above the approved CIP budget; and liquor license renewal applications for several local businesses.
Two additional business items were added and approved during the meeting. First, a grant application for the operating support program for arts organizations through the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council. Second, an exempt permit for the Pour on the Shore event to hold a raffle at the Moose Lodge on October 10th.
